Thunder Player Power Rankings: Clutch brothers

There’s sort of a complex in being good. All the wins are wonderful, the success is beautiful, but the added stress and anxiety is a foreign feeling. The past two seasons, it was all about steps forward. This season? Forget that. It’s about winning. The team is too good, the players have evolved and the path has been cleared out for the Thunder to make a strong run at an NBA Championship.

But along with that comes the stress and anxiety. An interesting thing happens when your team moves to a record like 29-8. Each loss becomes a pretty painful experience. Each time the Thunder lose, everyone’s forced to start running an autopsy on that game to find where the Thunder’s fatal flaws are. What went wrong? Could it happen again? Is this the sign of something worse? Are the Thunder doomed? Have they been exposed as frauds?

In reality, it’s just a loss and you’ll forget about it as soon as they win their next game. That said, I fully expect the Thunder to win out and if they don’t, I’ll be horribly disappointed.

Now to the rankings:

1. Kevin Durant (Last week: 1)

You know how you know KD has become a cold-blooded closer? Because when he misses in crunch-time now, it’s kind of a weird thing. The two 3s he put up late against the Hawks, I thought were guaranteed to go down. You can’t make ’em all, I guess. But KD’s top moment of the last week had to be the killer 3 he hit in Philly with the whole place booing him. That’s like, legendary type stuff. If KD goes on to have an all-time career, that 3 will be something we talk about. My favorite part about it was that KD didn’t gesture to the crowd or put his finger to his lips or anything. Just backpeddled down the floor. Because he didn’t have to say anything. He knew what he’d done. He knew.

2. Russell Westbrook (Last week: 2)

Westbrook put up two double-doubles last week, but both different. Against the 76ers, the Thunder’s point guard pulled in 13 rebounds to go with 22 points. The last rebound being the classic Westbrook type crunch-time board. That’s something about Russ. He’s a clutch player, and not just in the sense of making shots. He’s just a big play player. Late in games he comes up with important plays all the time, such as a crazy offensive board, a key jumper or a great pass. There’s a reason OKC’s so tough to beat, especially in the final five minutes of a close game.

3.James Harden (Last week: 3)

Since Harden sprained his wrist and has been playing with it wrapped, he’s just 2-12 from 3. That’s after shooting better than 36 percent from deep on the season before that. The wrist is clearly bothering his shooting, which has brought his scoring down a little as well.

4. Kendrick Perkins (Last week: 5)

It was truly amazing to me how many tweets and emails I got following the Atlanta game asking if Cole Aldrich should take Perk’s spot. Maybe I could understand it if that game had happened in late January when Perk wasn’t rebounding well and his numbers looked bad. But after his awesome defensive efforts against Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard, plus the fact he’s pulled in nine or more rebounds five of the last six games (the one exception being against the Hawks where he fouled out after just 16 minutes). I’m excited about Aldrich too, but come on.

5. Royal Ivey (Last week: 7)

Ivey continues to climb because the guy is showing off an incredible amount of value in an extremely limited role. The two 3s against Orlando, including the zone-busting second one, might’ve been as big as any shot KD hit. His defense is better than solid and he’s really making the Thunder miss Thabo less. It’s becoming a reasonable question as to if Ivey might should have that starting 2-guard spot instead of Daequan Cook.

6. Serge Ibaka (Last week: 4)

Just six blocks for Serge last week. What’s the deal with that? It was obvious he wasn’t going to factor into the Orlando game much, and he didn’t. But he was good protecting the rim and on the glass against both Philly and Atlanta. I still would like to see more of Ibaka within the offense. Adding that extra pressure release in his pick-and-pop jumper isn’t a bad thing at all. And I think he has more of a post-up game hidden in him than we’ve seen.

7. Nick Collison (Last week: N/A)

Everything just feels better when Collison is playing, doesn’t it? He returned from injury and performed reasonably well, but against Atlanta, it seemed he fell asleep a couple times in defending mid-range jumpers for Ivan Johnson and Josh Smith. Collison doesn’t typically lapse so maybe it was part of the scouting report, but he was definitely late to contest a couple that went in.

8. Cole Aldrich (Last week: 10)

It’s time. Make him the backup center. He just brings too much energy and effort not to make it happen. He’s still wild and he’s not a great one-on-one post defender yet, but he’s got great hands, runs the floor well and is always active. The Thunder’s second unit could use a spark and Aldrich would certainly provide one.

9. Daequan Cook (Last week: 6)

After going a little trigger crazy two weeks ago, Cook only attempted three 3-pointers last week. And his minutes were slashed as he played just 22, 20 and 14 minutes. I don’t think he’s falling out of favor with Scott Brooks, but obviously there’s a desire to get Ivey a little more time while also trying to mix and match the small lineups.

10. Nazr Mohammed (Last week: 9)

Only 25 total minutes for Mohammed last week. And I’m not sure I remember even one of them.

11. Reggie Jackson (Last week: 8)

He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie. I’m just going to write that on the chalkboard 500 times to make sure I remember while growing increasingly frustrated. He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie. He’s a rookie…

12. Ryan Reid (Last week: N/A)

With Reid, I kind of get the feeling if there was a way for him to crack a team’s rotation, he’d be really productive. Reminds me a touch of D.J. White.

At this point, any trades Presti makes will need to include the late-first-round picks you get at the 25-30 slot. The current roster has a couple stars, a couple essential players paid far less than their play would indicate, some mostly-solid role players, and filler. Good luck making a decent move with any of those pieces.

Cole Aldrich = the backup QB everyone assumes is far better than the starter. Well, everyone except the OKC coaches and management, and the scouts, coaches, and GM's of other teams. Everyone else knows he's the next Olajuwon just waiting to happen. If only Perk and Nazr would get out of his way.

Another serviceable wing player is our most pressing need right now. Much more so than our situation at center or backup PG imo. I also think a wing is much more realistic to attain than PG or center help.

I think Nazr+1st for Dorell Wright is a trade that may potentially work. We could substitute Cook for Nazr if that made things work better.

I wish we had a handle on how valuable of a veteran lockerroom presence Nazr is.

You get players like Mario Chalmers who come of the gate looking good, and it makes one less excited about Reggie going forward. Anyone else think the Collison hasn't been as large a part of this team as years past?

Just throwing this out there, but what (besides salary) is the difference between Kendrick Perkins and Kyrylo Fesenko? Both are big, strong centers who are immovable in the post. Both are pretty useless offensively. Both absolutely shut down opposing centers. Neither are great rebounders, neither can play a ton of minutes.

@andrew35 i dont think he has much presence, i would be in for Wright, i'm with you that a point may be hard to get, and i don't think reggies capable of creating shots for others OR providing scoring off the bench, so atleast we could get someone to score

@JeremyBrewer yeah he hasn't looked as good this year, he is getting old and the compressed schedule is tough. If this continues next year I will worry more, probably also why we got ryan reid, he is collison 2.0 without the offense.

It's too bad Calderon is so expensive. He is undervalued in Toronto and would make a perfect back PG in Maynor's absence. His assist to TO ratio is nuts and I think he could play well next to Russ for small ball stints.

I think Collision still has value. He provides leadership for the second unit on defense and I still really like his two-man game with Harden... even if it feels like it has slipped without Maynor's contributions.

@BRY BRY He's still a quality player, and Cleveland is in need of quality players themselves. I don't think the cap space would mean much to them. We would have to offer a decent SG/SF to complement Irving. Cook? Thabo? I just don't know if it is worth it, or enough.

Moreover, Irving has already missed extended time once, Cleveland may not be keen on getting rid of their only insurance.

@OBoymuzik Maybe they would take a healthy Thabo and Ivey to shore up their defense??? They love defensive players and I don't think Crawford fits the Portland mold. Come to think of it, he doesn't really fit the Thunder mold either.

@f5alcon Even though Nick has seemed to regress a little this year, as previously mentioned, he is a leader. He talks so much on the defensive end and I think the second unit would be fairly lost without him.

I would suggest he will return to form next year when he can get more rest. He still shows his value against certain opponents. He's never been an athletic big but he's still smart and savvy and I would suggest he will be on the team for quiet a while. I think even if his skills were to diminish even more he would still find himself as a locker room guy. The organization likes him too much to not keep him around.

@sammasaaron we can't get the nick collison of every position to be our backup, we need to pick up someone and there are a reasons teams are willing to trade someone, not saying we need to get crawford, just saying theres probably not many people who fit perfectly with no flaws

@BRY BRY the story i read said they want to deal him because he will opt out of his contract after next year to become a free agent, so they're probably just trying to get something in return seeing their season has been a dissapointment

@BRY BRY@OBoymuzik I'm not sure why we would want Crawford other than to be our new Daquean Cook. He's not a point guard, and really wouldn't do much to improve the second unit in that way (which it is lacking). That's not to say we couldn't use a more consistent shooter (Cook is in a fun right now), but one that offers no defensive value and is making 5 million? We aren't in need of offense on the wings that much. A stretch 4/5 with some rebounding value or a steadier backup PG would make a lot more sense.

@f5alcon Rumors are the clippers are pursuing him, i have to think we have more to offer than that, maybe we could trick them into Reggie+Cook and maybe a draft pick, i doubt presti will give up reggie this early

@Lost Ones@Royce Young@ILikePancakes This comment doesn't make any sense. Perk played 32 min against Orlando. He was in foul trouble against the Hawks, not the Magic. And in any case, I hope all 5 of his fouls that night went against Howard; puts a bad FT shooter on the line and frustrates his offense.

@Lost Ones@Royce Young@ILikePancakes Howard is about a 50-55% free throw shooter. He's not a 50-55% career dunker. It is good defense, though if Perk is fouling him, maybe Howard is getting the best of Perk on where Howard gets the ball. When Perk pushes Howard out, it increases Perks' effectiveness and limits the fouls because Howard is playing the possession very differently than trying to back into Perk for a dunk.

@Lost Ones@Remify Yeah, I haven't seen enough to know with Howard, but I know Fesenko played Bynum well in the NOLA-LA series last year. At the very least, Bynum had to actually work against Fesenko rather than just tossing easy hooks over Okafor.

And I'm not really suggesting we dump Perk for Fesenko, but more surprised no one else has picked him up. He's huge, truly over 7 feet tall, and can play some really great defense in limited minutes (fouls too much though). It seems weird that we pay a guy over 7 million a year to play defense despite his negative offensive value, but someone like Fesenko can't even seem to get a contract.

@sammasaaron idk i'm not that familiar with crawford over the years and if he's been a problem or not, i'm just thinking if we could send 2 guys (cook and reggie) or thabo and a draft pick and insert a scorer that can play 2 and some point it may work

reggie in the playoffs may have to face-cp3, ty lawson, andre miller, mo williams, all guys that could eat him alive, and i really don't think he's capable of giving us 10 points in a game where harden, russ or cook is struggling

@OBoymuzik I wasn't suggesting we had to find the perfect fit, rather that if he's already complaining about playing time OKC is a bad fit FOR HIM because we don't have a lot of rotation minutes to give out. I'd rather have a struggling backup like Jackson who is working hard for his time than a guy who feels he's entitled to a certain number of minutes game.

@Keith00@BRY BRY Right now assuming thabo comes back at some point we could still probably use an addition, but if thabo doesn't come back 100% or the injury lingers thru the playoffs then we definitely need someone, i love the thunder mold but really that narrows it down to Luke Ridinour and maybe one or 2 more people

@OBoymuzik@BRY BRY Crawford's value increases in my eyes if we know he intends to opt out in the offseason. I wouldn't want him gunning for two years, 10 million, but a half season of paychecks for a proven offensive spark off the bench could work. He could help as a zone and drought buster. It would be questionable though how happy he would be playing significantly fewer minutes and as a far away 4th option.

@Keith00 he can play pg though, even if he isnt a true pg, he is at least good enough on defense to play it instead of reggie, and he is a better scorer than cook, crawford is averaging 14ppg, and 4 apg.